Manganese and nitrate are worth checking in Deschutes County wells.
2 worth checking, 4 rare out of 6 health checks.
From 560 wells tested in Deschutes County since 2000; your own well needs its own test. How to read this
Rare: under 5%Worth checking: 5 to 15%Widespread: 15%+
Lab results: Water Quality Portal (USGS and EPA)
Who drinks from a well here
1 in 5 people 37,547 people
Nobody else tests these wells. Only you do.
People on wells: EPA researchers' 2020 estimate
How deep wells go here
Middle depth: some shelter from the surface, not complete.
Well depths: US Groundwater Well Database
Radon risk (a gas from rock)
Less likely, but the EPA still says test your air.
Radon zones: EPA map
Here's how Deschutes County compares with Oregon and the counties around it.
Each result puts Deschutes County next to the 7 counties that border it, on the chart's 0 to 50% scale.
These 2 are worth checking in Deschutes County.
Manganese17 of 141 wells over
* Likely overstated, so we don't rank it.
Too few tested to show: Jefferson, Lake.
Nitrate58 of 557 wells over
Too few tested to show: Jefferson.
These 4 are rare in Deschutes County.
Lead2 of 117 wells over
Too few tested to show: Crook, Jefferson, Lake.
Arsenic0 of 139 wells over
Too few tested to show: Jefferson, Lake.
Uranium0 of 115 wells over
Too few tested to show: Crook, Jefferson, Lake.
Fluoride0 of 23 wells over
Too few tested to show: Crook, Harney, Jefferson, Klamath, Lake, Lane.
Coliform bacteria turned up in 43 of 285 tested Deschutes County wells, so test for it every year.
Coliform bacteria43 of 285 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Crook, Jefferson, Lake.
E. coli22 of 383 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Crook, Jefferson, Lake.
E. coli means human or animal waste is getting in, so if a test of your Deschutes County well finds it, boil drinking water until the well is fixed.
Iron reached staining levels in 87 of 139 tested wells, and it isn't a health risk.
Iron stains87 of 139 wells had it
Too few tested to show: Jefferson, Lake.
Most of the 560 wells tested in Deschutes County were last tested before 2010.
An old result shows the water as it was then, so treat these 560 wells as a starting point and test your own.
Most Deschutes County wells in these records were tested for research or because someone suspected a problem, which can push the shares above what a typical home well would show (how we read the numbers).
One mail-in lab test covers the 4 things to check in Deschutes County.
- Bacteria
- Nitrate
- Manganese
- Arsenic
What Oregon offers well owners
- Free testingWe didn't find a free program for all of Oregon. Oregon's private well page
- Certified labsOregon's list of certified labs
- Well recordsOregon's well record search
- New wellsUnder the Domestic Well Testing Act, sellers must test the well for arsenic, nitrate and total coliform bacteria during a real estate transaction and send the results to the buyer and OHA within 90 days.
Half the household wells here are shallower than 120 feet.
That comes from 17,643 household wells in Oregon's drilling records. Most wells of every kind here are 45 to 355 feet deep. Wells as deep as Deschutes County's are usually better protected from fertilizer and bacteria at the surface, but they can pick up more of what's in the rock, like arsenic and uranium. Typical household wells here are shallower than in 27 of the 35 other Oregon counties with enough drilling records.
Look up your own well's depth in Oregon's well record search, or see how to find it.
Well depths: US Groundwater Well Database
Here's what we know about radon and PFAS in Deschutes County.
Deschutes County is in the EPA's lowest radon zone, so radon from well water is unlikely to be a problem. Radon guide
Between 2023 and 2025 the EPA had 6 town water systems in Deschutes County test for PFAS. 1 of them had at least one test above 4 ng/L, the new EPA limit for PFOA and PFOS. The highest single result was 7.9 ng/L of PFOA. No well in Deschutes County has public PFAS results, so the town systems are the best clue to what's in the groundwater nearby. PFAS guide
Radon zones: EPA Map of Radon Zones. PFAS: EPA tests of town water systems, 2023 to 2025
Questions people ask about well water in Deschutes County
Is well water in Deschutes County safe to drink?
17 of 141 wells tested in Deschutes County had manganese over the limit, about 1 in 8. Across Oregon it's about 2 in 10. That's a smaller share than in 16 of the 25 other Oregon counties with 10 or more tested wells, leaving out 2 counties whose results are likely overstated. So test your own well for manganese before you count on it.
Where can I get my well tested in Deschutes County?
Use a lab Oregon has certified for drinking water. Oregon's list is linked above, in the box about testing. Ask for bacteria, nitrate, manganese and arsenic, the tests that matter most in Deschutes County.
How deep are wells in Deschutes County?
Half the household wells here are shallower than 120 feet. Typical household wells here are shallower than in 27 of the 35 other Oregon counties with enough drilling records.
How does Deschutes County compare with the counties around it?
For manganese, the share of tested wells over the limit: 1 of the 5 neighboring counties with data had a higher share than Deschutes County, at 12%. Linn had the most, at 17%. Groundwater doesn't stop at county lines, so Linn's 17% is worth knowing about if you live near it.
How often should I test my well in Deschutes County?
In Deschutes County, 43 of 285 tested wells had coliform bacteria, so the CDC's advice matters here: test for bacteria and nitrate every year, and right away after a flood, a repair, or any change in taste or smell.
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Where the Deschutes County numbers come from
- People on wells: 37,547 in Deschutes County, from EPA estimates built on the 2020 Census (Murray et al.).
- Lab tests: 6,629 well water samples from 560 wells in the Water Quality Portal, run by the USGS and EPA, 2000 to 2024.
- Well depths: 17,643 Oregon drilling records for Deschutes County, gathered in the US Groundwater Well Database (Lin and others, 2024).
- Neighboring counties: the 7 counties that share a border with Deschutes County, from the Census Bureau's county adjacency file.
- PFAS: EPA tests of 6 town water systems in Deschutes County under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, 2023 to 2025.
- Radon: Deschutes County is zone 3 on the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
- State programs and links: Oregon Health Authority, checked November 1, 2026.